DOW TOPS 25,000
New high continues a run nobody saw coming in ’ 09
The milestone- busting Dow has done it again.
The Dow Jones industrial average topped and closed above 25,000 for the first time Thursday, kicking off 2018 where it left off last year, with sizable stock market gains.
Rising stock prices have been powered by a global economic recovery and optimism that the Republican tax- cut law will provide a fresh boost for U. S. growth and help American companies make more money.
The 30- stock index, which includes leading U. S. companies such as Apple, McDonald’s and Walmart, closed up 152.45 points, or 0.6%, at a record high of 25,075.13, eclipsing Dow 25K for the first time in its 121year history.
At its high point Thursday, the Dow was trading at 25,105.96.
The continued rise in stock prices in 2018 after a 25% gain last year extends a bull market that began in March 2009 and is now the secondlongest in Wall Street history, trailing only the nearly 10- year rally in the 1990s.
“Welcome to the bull market,” says Brian Belski, the chief investment strategist at BMO Capital Markets who predicted at the start of the bull that it could last 15 to 20 years and now says the market is being driven higher by improving business conditions.
“Dow 25K is just another milestone, not the top,” Belski adds, noting that too many investors are skeptical of the rally, keeping euphoria at bay.
Many Americans, however, have not benefited from the stock market’s multiyear rise.
Only 54% have investments in stocks, down from 62% before the 2008 financial crisis, according to Gallup.
The Dow closed higher for a third consecutive day to start the year. It is coming off its best year since 2013.
It took the Dow just 35 calendar days to climb from 24,000 to 25,000, tying the fastest 1,000- point climbs, including the rise to 11,000 in May 1999 and the run to 21,000 in March 2017, S& P Dow Jones Indices data show.